Chapter Seven

Dark can taint the strongest light.

We found the four magic born sprawled out across the floor of the main library, looking like they’d fallen asleep mid-research. I’d had all of the spell books transferred there, since it was a larger space to house everything. I felt a weird sense of relief having all of our resources in one place, like I could occasionally make a decent decision as an adult and queen.

We’d shut this room off to the rest of the staff at the estate as soon as all the books were inside, which no one seemed to mind. Seems the Red Queen had rarely let anyone in here anyway.

There were only a few lamps lit; it was early morning and dark still. I hit the switch for the main lights, sending bright beams of illumination down the many rows of books.

“What the freak?” Violet was up, the pitch of her screech probably killing some of the pigeons outside. She had both hands out, and was breathing deeply, like her heart was beating a million miles an hour. When she saw me and Kade, her hands slowly lowered. I realized she had called magic to them when she initially jumped. Even in her sleep she was ready for an attack.

“Sorry,” I said, my brow creasing as I walked toward her. “I should have … been more considerate.”

In my impatience I forgot that Violet was recovering from an attack, and that the other three were no doubt as exhausted as Kade and me. “I just had some news to share, and hopefully you have some for us.”

Baladar, Nikoli, and Rowan were up then too, all of us turning as a cheerfully humming Calista entered the library. She was wheeling a large tray covered in food and coffees. “Good morning. I thought we might all need some breakfast.”

Was this woman a secret magic born? How had she known we were up? She had to have known before I even woke to have time to fetch a tray of food. She better not have security cameras in my suite. I wouldn’t put it past her.

As she passed me, I got a firm hug. “Glad to see you’re feeling better today.”

“How … how did you know we were here?”

She just shook her head, her beaming smile in place. “Never underestimate me, Ari. I see all.”

No doubt my guards had reported to her, but still, she was amazing.

Her eyes flicked to my shoulder and I rubbed at the dull ache unconsciously. “I’m fine.”

Some of her joy dulled, but as Baladar hurried over to her, declaring in a booming, desperate kind of tone that he loved her, she was soon back to her jolly self.

She let out a small snort-laugh, which was totally unlike her. “Those declarations of love would mean a lot more if you weren’t staring at the coffee pot when you said them.”

Baladar focused on her completely then, his icy eyes filled with shots of magic. Calista lasted all of two seconds before she was in his arms, getting her morning kiss. Those two made me happy. Turning away from their PDA, I noticed Violet still seemed a little twitchy. I plucked up a pink iced doughnut, which was one of her favorites, and passed it to her.

Some of her tension eased as she breathed in the sweet bread smell and took a huge bite. “Pink donuts are the best kind of fruit.”

I snorted, because she had a crappy diet and she just did not care. And I was one to talk. Wrap it in bacon or smother it in mac and cheese and I was in love.

Kade, who had made himself comfortable in a large wingback armchair, was already on his second cup of coffee. He had some bagels on a plate too. I was glad to see some of the fatigue fading from his face, but with everything that was happening, him being attacked and partly-shifting, he was not even remotely getting enough sleep to restore his energy. I would have to make sure he slept first tonight.

“So, Arianna, what do you need to tell us?” Baladar looked completely unruffled, holding his mug in a refined manner.

I wasted no time on pleasantries, telling them everything about my unexpected kidnapping and what Kade and I thought the Dark Fae Lord wanted that second crystal for.

After I had finished, Baladar said, “What would you like us to do first?”

“First, some type of blocking spell. He sees everything we do, and if we’re going to beat him to the stone, that has to stop.” I paced the library as the magic born stared at me.

“It would be too hard to spell the entire royal estate and all of our energy signatures,” Baladar started slowly.

My wolf rose up and the growl ripped from my mouth before I could stop it. Dammit. There was no way for us to plan anything if he could just see straight into our world.

Kade stood. He had finished his food and coffee now, and was looking alert. “Well, we’ll just have to focus on us, and not the castle.”

Baladar rubbed his chin. “Intriguing … explain further.”

“Well, I’m no magic born, but what if you could spell some jewelry or something and we could wear th—”

Violet leapt up. “Yes! It would take very little magic that way. We don’t bother to hide the castle. We spell necklaces to shroud our energy signature from magical prying eyes. It will be simple. That way, if the Dark Fae Lord spies on the castle, he won’t see what we’re doing.”

Baladar nodded. “We can hide the important people, and leave enough of the others around so he doesn’t get too suspicious.”

Yes, this was a plan I could work with. “He’ll wonder where we have gone, and that should get him nice and nervous. Maybe he’ll make a mistake.” I pointed to Violet and Baladar. “Can you two please start on the necklaces? Nikoli, Rowan, and I will continue with the spell to find this dark crystal. We have to get to it before the dark fae.”

No one argued. For once, they all acted like I was actually their queen, and hurried off to follow my orders.

Kade cleared his throat lightly. “I think you’re forgetting someone.”

I turned around and placed two hands on Kade’s muscular chest. “You, My King, need to get a couple hours of sleep.” His alertness would fade soon enough. He couldn’t survive on coffee forever. “We have a crystal hunt to go on when you wake.”

After a long pause, where he scrutinized me closely, he finally nodded. “Two hours. Not a minute longer.”

I smiled. “Okay.”

After Kade retreated out of sight, I sat down next to Rowan and Nikoli. “Okay, first thing. Can we do a temporary spell to hide us and this conversation?”

Rowan let out a chuckle. “You don’t have to worry about it. This library is covered in fae magic. I’m not sure why, but long before we used this room, someone was hiding it from sight.”

I echoed her chuckle, even though I knew exactly why this room was spelled. The Red Queen and Daddy Dearest. Pushing my parents back into the box of things I was never dealing with, I focused on the task.

“Alright, since our conversation should be private here, explain this magic to me. Why can’t we find this other crystal? Can we just read the book? It’s supposed to contain all the information we need to find and control the energy, right?”

Nikoli pulled the dark magic book out of the spelled cloth. The moment it was free, I felt its low hum of energy and those slivers of heavy, shadowy magic. It was muted, so whatever Baladar had done to the book was still working, but there was no doubting the strength of this sliver of crystal, or the dark information it contained.

Nikoli placed it between us all, careful not to touch the stone or open the pages.

“None of the magic born have opened the book, because we have no idea what is inside. We also have no idea what will happen if we read the words. This stone is pure dark magic. The only problem is, according to Baladar, the only way to learn how to trace or connect to the dark mecca is to read the spell inside. Only…”

“We don’t want to turn evil…” I said, and he nodded.

“We don’t want to turn evil, so none of us are willing to open the pages or connect to the stone. Who knows what might happen if we did.”

Rowan was silent, staring in deep thought at the stone. “What if it were more … familiar to us? What if we turned the black stone into something we knew, so we could connect with it briefly and read this spell … trace it to its other half?”

Nikoli and I shared a look of confusion, and Rowan grinned like Violet often did. Like she knew something we didn’t. “Mecca powder,” she breathed. “If we coat this stone in mecca powder, it will mingle with the dark magic, temporarily bringing it closer to our purple mecca. That should limit the effect of the words inside, giving us enough time to see what information it’s hiding.”

I wasn’t a magic born, so it didn’t make sense to me, but it sounded like a decent idea. The mecca powder had certainly done some incredible things the times I’d seen it at work. “What are the odds it could backfire and make all of my magic born go dark?” I asked seriously.

Rowan’s shoulders drooped forward a little. “High. That’s why only one of us should do it. Just in case.”

Damn.

Nikoli nodded. “Baladar is too valuable to lose, Violet is too fragile after her time as prisoner with the Winter Court. Queen Arianna and King Kade are way too important to risk … so, I’ll do it.”

“I can do it,” Rowan offered. Her beautiful pixie features were smooth. She didn’t seem too worried.

“You’re our only fae knowledge base. And you are valuable to the Summer Court. We definitely don’t want to upset them by turning their magic born dark.” He shook his head. “No, it has to be me.”

He was confident and sure, unwilling to risk anyone else on this task. I was touched.

“Nikoli, you are a treasured friend and magic born. Thank you,” I told him, and he simply nodded.

I stood. “Alright, get ready for the spell. We’ll do it in two hours when Kade is awake to make sure the energy can be controlled. We will all have our magic necklaces by then, so the dark fae will have no idea where we are.”

It was a plan … a sort of scary one, but the best we could hope for. Part of me was worried about Nikoli. We couldn’t afford to lose any of the magic born … Violet especially. But this was war, and there was no way for me to keep my loved ones safe. We just had to hope for the best, and try to wipe those fae out before they got us.

 

Two hours later, we were all gathered in the basement, the place where I had defeated Selene—twice. The large room would be able to handle a reasonable amount of magical blowback. We couldn’t use the library; Rowan said that whatever magic hid it from prying eyes might interfere in our spell.

We all wore the necklaces. They were simple-looking: a plain brown leather string with a white crystal shard hanging from it. But the moment I touched it, I knew it was anything but simple. An energy bubble had been placed over me.

“So you can’t see my energy at all?” I asked Violet for the third time. Ever since my winter magic had been unlocked, I had been like a shining beacon to her.

“Nothing. I don’t even pick up a human level of energy. It’s like you have ceased to exist … in energy anyway.”

“Will it affect my magic?” I added.

She shook her head. “Nope. Just hide you from prying eyes.”

Whoa. I looked at the little crystal with newfound respect. At least part one of our plan was a success. I tried to stop fidgeting while the others finished setting up the dark crystal spell. I was scared. What if mixing the mecca power with the dark crystal caused some kind of explosion? Or turned all of us dark and we joined the dark fae? What if it tainted the mecca itself? There were so many risks.

Violet reached out and briefly swiped her hand across mine, only enough contact for a fleeting spark between us. “Baladar said it was a good plan. I trust him.”

I nodded, managing to keep my feet still. I trusted Baladar too, but it was a queen’s job to worry about her people.

Violet crossed over to Nikoli. He turned straight to her, as if he’d been aware of what she was doing the entire time. She leaned into him.

“Are you sure?” she whispered.

He nodded, his expression softening. Violet’s did the opposite. Her back straightened and she shifted away from him, stepping back. Her face was carefully blank — she was shutting him out, afraid of losing him, which was very unlike Violet. She normally threw caution to the wind. Her time in the Winter Court had destroyed a piece of her childlike innocence, the part of her I’d always adored the most. Instinct was telling me that I needed to have a heart-to-heart with my best friend; she couldn’t keep burying it inside.

After we survived this, of course.

Kade’s comforting presence pressed in behind me, and I was thankful that the necklaces didn’t seem to interfere in our bond. I could still feel him as strong as always in my mind. Gently spinning me around, he cupped my face with both hands, pressing a kiss to my forehead. It was so sweet that I let out a deep sigh, enjoying that moment of pure bliss.

As he pulled back he said, “I’ll stay close to Nikoli, in case he needs help controlling the mecca.”

I wasn’t at all surprised. Nikoli was a close friend of his. Like me and Violet, they had known each other most of their lives. He would not let his friend face the darkness alone. His ability to filter mecca, allowing only little pieces to leak through, was a powerful weapon. It still made me nervous, though.

“Be careful. If it’s gets too crazy, just stop. We will find another way. There is always another way.” Both of my hands lifted to press against his, which were still on my face.

He nodded, but before he could say anything more, Baladar’s voice boomed across the large room. “Okay, time for you all to leave and wait in the hall. Kade and Nikoli are the only ones to remain in here.” He moved away from his position behind the round copper pot; the book was inside it, just waiting for the powder to be added.

All of us leaving had been Kade’s idea, in case the spell went awry and lashed out. It was smart, but shutting those doors on my mate and his magic born, leaving them with that evil book, was physically painful. I blew Kade one last kiss and he gave me a wink. I loved his confidence; it always seemed to make my worries lessen. But … there was nothing that could make them disappear completely.

Especially when he shut off the bond between us, erecting those mental blocks we rarely used.

We walked a few feet down the hall. I wanted to be close enough to get to them quickly if they needed help. Minutes passed with no sound, no change in the energy around us … not even a change in scent. Then a pop ripped through the air and a heaviness pressed into me. Baladar’s eyes widened and Violet took a protective stance in front of me. I quickly quieted my frantic mind and attempted to push into Kade’s mind through our bond. He was still shielding me, so I couldn’t tell exactly what was going on, but I felt pain and darkness. And a bone chilling evil washing over my mate.

“No!” I screamed, pushing through my friends without thought. I was not letting my mate succumb to that darkness. What I had just felt, that inkling of the dark stone, absolutely terrified me. It was as bad as being in the presence of the dark fae.

Worse actually, because this time, it was Kade who felt like the Dark Fae Lord.

Violet latched on to my arm, trying to hold me back. “Let go, Vi!” I gave her a look that said if she didn’t let me go I would never forgive her. Her eyes locked on mine for a few long moments, and she swallowed hard, loosening her grip on me. I ran for the double doors, kicking them open. I felt for that wild magic inside of me, bringing it closer to the surface as I readied myself for anything.

Nikoli was hunched over the book on the ground and Kade stood behind him, his back to me, and both of his arms in the air. Every vein and muscle in Kade’s back and arms were bulging as he used all of the strength within him to contain the giant, black, oily ball of hell that had opened above Nikoli’s head. Nikoli was chanting, and with a final word he slammed the book shut and the black oil pushed against my mate.

Kade’s feet began dragging backwards as if someone were bulldozing him across the room. I stood there frozen, terrified, and unsure of what to do. It was only when Nikoli turned around and looked up at the blob, muttering a curse word, that I spurred into action.

My magic vibrated inside of me, so alive I could feel it like a tangible thing, with a scream I threw everything I had at the ball, focusing mostly on the spell-breaking side, since I had no idea what this ball of darkness was — but it felt like a spell.

Baladar, who must have followed me in, did the same. The mixed hues of purple and deep blue of my magic lashed out and saturated the dark mass, covering it like a magical cocoon. I stumbled as the room shook, a roaring filling my ears until I could hear nothing else. Somehow I stayed on my feet, funneling more of my magic at the thing. The roar then turned to a shrill whine. I was about to cover my ears when all noise abruptly cut off. There was an eerie silence for two heartbeats … then the ball exploded.

Kade was blown backwards, and using every ounce of my shifter abilities — howls rocked my chest as my wolf rose up, ready to save her mate — I sprinted and dived forward just in time to break his fall with my body. He slammed into me with such force that it knocked the wind out of me.

He was off me in a moment, and I reached across his chest to take his face in my hands. “Are you okay?” I asked him frantically, searching for any injuries.

A shadow moved across those stunning eyes, and for a moment the color wavered from its normal bronze to something more like a murky brown. By the time I blinked again it was gone, and the swirling copper tones were back.

“I’m fine, Ari,” he said, almost breathless. That dark mass had exploded with such huge force, he’d been launched across the room. My aching ribs could attest to that.

Needing more confirmation, I latched onto the mate bond again, pressing into Kade’s energy. The block between us had eased, but he wasn’t completely open either. From the flickers of information I was getting, he did seem to be okay. I couldn’t sense any major injury or pain, so … I’d accept what he said. For now.

Baladar knelt down and ran a hand up Kade’s arm, but before he got further than the bear’s shoulder, Kade pushed him away. “I’m fine. I promise.” He dismissed us by turning to Nikoli.

“Did you get a location on the stone?”

I exchanged a quick glance with Baladar. The ancient magic born wore a blank expression. Something told me he had as many thoughts and worries going on as I did.

Nikoli, whose face was pale and strained, nodded. “The other crystal is in Boston, but so is the Dark Fae Lord. He’s one step ahead of us.”

Shit.

None of us wasted another second. We grabbed whatever stuff we thought we would need for a few days and we piled into a black Suburban.

“We’ll keep an eye on everything here,” Baladar said to me through the car window. There had been an argument about who was staying behind. No one wanted that job, but it was almost as important to keep an eye on the royal estate. Calista and Baladar eventually took the role.

As hard as it was to leave the powerful magic born behind, I needed him to protect Calista and my city. Normally, it was a three to four hour drive to Boston. The speed we were planning on going, it would likely be much faster. But still, I wouldn’t get back quickly if anything happened.

“Hopefully we’ll return home by tomorrow at the latest,” I said to my advisor, who had a worried look in her eyes. She leaned in and gave me a kiss on the cheek, stepping back so that Kade could back the car out of the huge underground garage.

Jen, Monica, and Victor waved from where they stood with Baladar. It had been hard to convince them to stay behind too, but with this being a magical matter, facing a dark fae and all, I thought it best to keep our group small, limited to those who could harness the mecca. Even though mecca magic didn’t work directly on the dark fae, there were other things they could do to help me. They could also defend themselves against any others who might be waiting to attack.

I refused to lose any more of my dominants. Not today. I would just have to hope that between Kade, Violet, Nikoli, Rowan, Finn, Nix, and me we had enough firepower.

Thankfully, we beat the traffic and made great time. Conversation was stilted, most of us lost in our own thoughts. Finn snoozed in the back; Nix was travelling in the air since a giant eagle was one too many in the SUV.

When we were about ten minutes outside of Boston on the I-93, Kade met Nikoli’s eyes in the rearview. “Where to now?” he asked.

Kade had been quiet and closed off the entire drive, even more so than the rest of us. Which I chalked up to lack of sleep and stress. The bond between us was open … kinda. I could feel him there, and everything seemed okay. Sleep and stress, it had to be that.

Nikoli leaned forward. “In the town of Somerville there’s a park called Baxter Riverfront Park. It’s right on the Mystic River. The crystal is in the water there.”

An apt name for a river hiding a magical crystal.

I turned to see him better. “So it’s actually in the water?” I remembered the wolf council telling me that the original queen found our mecca stone in the water too.

He nodded. “Apparently everyone knows better than to swim in this river. It has claimed multiple lives, and the water is said to be tainted.”

Sounded about right. And it looked like one of us was going to have to go swimming in broad daylight in front of a bunch of humans to retrieve this thing. And if it was anything like the crystal in the book, it was going to be evil and try to corrupt us all.

Violet had been in the back, squished next to Finn for the entire drive, working on some type of protective magical case for it, but we had to get it out of the water first.

“You think it’s possible the fae lord already has it?” I pondered aloud.

Kade was the one to answer. “No. He has a general idea of the area, but is waiting for us to show up for its exact location.”

I gave my mate a side glance. He had sounded so sure when he said that, like he … knew. But how could he possibly know that? His instincts were sharp, of course, but this felt like more than instinct.

“I hope you’re wrong about part of that at least,” I finally said, trying to swallow my unease. I didn’t address the fact that Kade was not acting like himself, because I was afraid deep down to acknowledge that this might be fallout from filtering the dark energy.

Kade nodded. “I hope he’s not there too. It would be nice to get in and out without drama.”

He reached forward and plugged the Baxter Riverfront Park into the GPS. As we drove through the city, passing families and young children, a thought came to me.

I spun around and faced Rowan just as Kade was pulling the large SUV into a parking spot at the park. “When we do our training, you create a dome so the humans can’t see. Is there any chance you can make one big enough to hide us today?”

Rowan smiled. “No problem.”

I exhaled the breath I had been holding. If the Dark Fae Lord showed up and there was a fight in broad daylight, in public, it could turn into a magical bloodbath. I needed to hide us, and protect the humans. We couldn’t be worrying about that when we were fighting for our lives.

Luckily, the park and the bridge that looked over the Mystic River were pretty deserted, and as soon as I opened the door I knew why. It was freezing outside. Fall had descended on the east coast, and mercifully made this park uninhabited for our excursion, deserted except for an old man fishing on a bench. A quick scan told me that no stag-horned dark fae was milling about, but the knot in my stomach didn’t ease. As we all huddled together, Kade wrapped an arm around me; his warmth was like plunging into a bath.

Thanks, mate. I used our bond.

Always.

Well, that was more like my Kade. Maybe the dark energy that had been bothering him was dissipating. It made sense that it would take some time to be cleansed fully from his aura.

I patted my blade, relieved to feel it in my thigh holster. I also had a gun tucked in my waistband. All hidden by my thick trench coat. The weapons would do little against the Dark Fae Lord, but just having them on me made me feel more secure, more in control.

Kade straightened, and turned to look out over the water. “I sense it,” he growled. That sick feeling in my gut flared to life.

“What?” My voice was low and controlled, but on the inside I was screaming. “What do you mean you sense it?”

Rowan and Violet were already moving to start the wards to block us from everyone except the man fishing on the bench. He was too close and would be inside our barrier, so he would see whatever he saw, and there was nothing we could do about that.

Kade broke his trance with the lake and met my eyes. “It has an energy signature similar to the mecca. Now that I’ve connected once, I can feel it.”

What he said sounded logical, but … I was still worried.

“Then lead the way.” I shrugged, acting as nonchalant as him. The sooner we got the stone, the sooner we could get the hell out of here.

Kade walked slowly along the river’s edge with his left hand out, as if he was skimming the energy of the water.

“It’s powerful,” he said, and I didn’t like the tone of his voice. It wasn’t fear I detected, it was interest. He was intrigued with this power, and I was really starting to regret our plan to read the book. We had no choice now, we had to follow through and get that stone first, but that didn’t mean I was happy about it all.

Violet peeked over my shoulder. “I can probably do a spell to bring it up out of the water, so no one has to go swimming.”

Just as I was thinking that was a fantastic idea, Nikoli interjected: “No, it’s far too dangerous. I won’t risk you.”

Violet put a hand on her hip. “Do you know any water retrieval spells?”

Nikoli’s jaw hardened; he stared her down for a few moments, before finally saying, “No.”

Violet looked to Rowan. “You?”

Rowan shrugged. “I can make portals in water, but I can’t pull up objects I haven’t seen or touched.”

Violet smiled. “Then it’s settled.”

That was my best friend. Not exactly humble in her gifts. “Be careful, Vi,” I told her.

After seeing that giant blob of darkness, and how it had pushed my mountain of a mate across the room, it gave me the chills to think of Violet using her magic to connect with it. But if she wanted to try, I wasn’t going to stop her. Nikoli was going to learn something I already knew: Violet wasn’t a fan of being told what to do.

He still tried one final time. “If you absolutely insist on this, then … pull it up, but please don’t touch it. You’re … too important.”

A man telling Violet what to do would normally earn them a black eye, but not this man. Her face softened the slightest bit and I knew his concern had touched her.

“Fine.” She gestured to the case she had in her other hand. “I’ll guide Lucifer right in here and won’t touch it.”

A garbled laugh mixed with a snort escaped me. “Lucifer?”

Violet smirked. “We need to name it, right? Seems fitting.”

It was fitting and depressing. We were pulling a crystal that had earned the name Lucifer out of the lake. Life had really reached a low point. Violet and Kade started to walk toward a bridge that went out onto the water. The rest of us followed but stayed on the shore, keeping an eye out for the fae lord.

I leaned into Rowan. “Do you sense him?” I was pretty sure I’d pick up on his unique, frosty energy. It had a heaviness to it that acted like chloroform on my aura, suppressing it.

She looked around, unsure. “I sense a lot of dark fae magic in that water. It could be him or the crystal.”

I was sensing the same thing. At least it appeared the fishing man had packed up and left. Now there were no onlookers, I felt safe in unhooking my blade, settling it comfortably into my right hand. It eased my nerves the slightest bit, even if the weapon was useless. Violet was standing halfway along the bridge now, hands outstretched. Kade was directing her by pointing to something in the water. Violet had an affinity for water magic. She’d been the genius to think up the spell to enchant the water around the royal houses so the fae could not use them as portals. I hoped she knew what she was doing now, because I had the horrible feeling we were making all kinds of wrong decisions when it came to this darkness.

“Was there anything else in the book?” I asked Nikoli, who had his gaze pinned on Violet.

“No,” he said without turning away, “there was only the spell of location retrieval. All of the other pages were blank. It was like … it only showed me what it believed I needed to know.”

I shivered. That was really creepy. I didn’t like it when magic objects thought for themselves. Too unpredictable. Unable to stand still, I crossed even closer to the bridge, and just as I was about to step onto it I felt a new cold darkness sweep in. Rowan met my gaze, and I gave her a nod. It was the Dark Fae Lord.

Doing a half spin, I looked all around the park and the adjoining water, and saw no one. Nix screeched in the sky and I was reminded that our familiars were doing patrol. I connected to Finn.

Anything out there, buddy?

His reply was instant. Negative. And Nix says the sky is clear. All areas of the perimeter are secure. But I sense a dark energy coming from the lake.

Shit.

Be careful. I’ll be there in a moment. He ended our mental conversation.

I turned my attention to the lake. “He’s in the water,” I murmured to those around me.

All of us took a step forward, the icy water lapping close to our feet. I wasn’t sure who saw it first, but as soon as the water’s ripples grew in size, all of us were paying close attention. The dark energy was getting stronger. I let out a yell as two horns broke the lake’s surface.

“Kade … Vi … you better hurry up!” I shouted, not taking my eyes off those growing swells.

I already had my fae and mecca energy mingling ferociously within me, my wolf inside pressing her own brand of energy to the front as well. Even though I was stronger in my human form when it came to magic, her strength still helped fuel me.

Rowan and Nikoli stepped in on either side of me.

“We need to keep him away from them,” I said, as more of his head appeared. He slowly rose, water trailing off him, his long black robes flowing out behind him, swirling through the dark icy water. He held his staff, the black crystal at the top sparkling in the dull light.

His eyes locked on Violet, who was churning energy through the water, causing a small whirlpool.

“Hey!” I shouted, bringing his gaze to me. “You and I have a little score to settle.”